ChiefsPlanet - Chiefs Ten Things About Last Night's Game: Week 11 LA 54 KC 51

Ten Things About Last Night’s Game: Week 11 LA 54 KC 51

10. I wanted to sleep on this one so I could calm down and think objectively about the game. There hasn’t been this much hoopla over a Chiefs game in LA since Super Bowl I. Chiefs played in the same stadium, in the same uniforms, with unfortunately the same results: Close game in first half, lost in the second half. This game was amazingly similar to the New England game, except when KC got the ball with a little under two minutes and all three time outs, they couldn’t seal the deal. More on that later. One of the silver linings we can pull from this disappointment is that no Chiefs player was seriously injured in the game. I think that would NOT have been the case if this game had been played in Mexico. And before moving on, a quick word of condolence and good wishes to Alex Smith following his horrific injury. 33 years to the day he gets Theismann’ed in a Redskin uniform. How weird is that? If his career is over, he at least has three more years left on a guaranteed contract and he can laugh as he limps into the bank with Dan Snyder’s cash. Alex is a class guy and I wish him well. I do think he’s done as an NFL QB, and that’s a shame.

9. I’m on vacation all this week, and went to St. Louis over the weekend to see family and friends. I spent most of my time in the Italian Neighborhood called “The Hill” where Yogi Berra grew up. I got a six pound Volpi salami and a bunch of italian goodies, plus a Gooey Butter Cake, and made up a big Soprano’s Style Baked Ziti for dinner; invited my pal Gary over and Mrs B, Gary and I watched the game. In St. Louis most of the people I talked to were rooting for the Chiefs -they hate Kronke and the Rams for leaving the city- although I wouldn’t call them real Chiefs fans. They have basically a passing interest since the team has been good this year. I’m still too personally engaged in Chiefs football to call a loss “fun,” but this game was certainly entertaining if you like offense. And in true Chiefs style for setting unprecedented records for failure, they now proudly own the NFL record for the only team to score over 50 points in a game and lose. So, another scalp for Andy to hang on his futility belt along with the choke jobs against Andrew Luck and Marcus Mariota.

8. I guess the best place to begin with talking about the game is that the Rams flipped the script on KC. The magic formula for the Chiefs has been to get an early multiple possession lead and make the other team play catch up. That’s exactly what the Rams did to us. Mahomes and the boys fought back to make a game of it, but usually we’re able to be the ones being chased, not the ones doing the chasing. KC had around six penalties in the first quarter alone, but I must say, every penalty they called during that stretch was a legitimate penalty. They were not letting much go in this one until later. For example, in the second half when Goff ran up the middle for his rushing TD, his right tackle CLEARLY false started, and there was no call. Suh also threw a cheap shot elbow into Mahomes head on a scramble that was ignored. I just got the feeling that this “All Star” Ref group was plenty flag happy early on as to justify their appointment to a high profile game. I think the NFL should have just let the originally scheduled crew work the game. You could tell the NFL wanted to put on a huge Dog and Pony show in the LA TV market, plus the halftime show was like a mini Super Bowl show. Certainly the league wasn’t treating this as an ordinary Monday Night matchup.

7. Let’s talk about the offense first. Kareem Hunt had a decent night. He had over 100 all purpose yards and a TD. He outplayed Todd Gurley in the matchup of marquee running backs. Tyreek Hill was huge with over 200 yards and two TDs. The “taunting” penalty on him was weak sauce. I guess if the refs are going to be looking to slap his celebrations down, he needs to just hand the ball to the ref and head to the bench to celebrate the rest of the year -including the playoffs. Kelce had over 100 once they started finding him in the second half. He also had a few drops. Watkins tried to go but couldn’t make it work, and I thought Conley did a great job filling in for him. He had 74 yards and two TDs filling in. It’s hard to be down on the offense when they scored all of the TDs save one defensive score in a 51 point performance. But considering how porous both teams defensive secondaries were, it just wasn’t enough.

6. Pat Mahomes had his roughest pro game, which is a strange statement when the guy threw for six TDs and almost 500 yards. Could this be the SI jinx? Maybe. The pick six and fumble six hurt, although we got one of those back on the Houston strip and Bailey rumble. Aaron Donald is the NFC version of rookie JJ Watt. He’s arguably the best defensive player in the NFL. My only real gripe with Cam Erving is not with getting beat by Donald, but not falling on the Goddamn football on one of the strips Donald got on Mahomes. Erving tried to pick up the ball and run with it. That’s Pop Warner stuff, man. Fall on the football. We also have to remember we’re playing without a starting guard and center. Mahomes got hit harder in this game than any other, and since he was sacked five times against Arizona last week, I think he’s starting to feel some wear and tear from the season. He looked tired in the last two minutes of the game, and the final pick he threw was way under thrown. It’s hard for us to remember, but Mahomes is essentially a rookie QB, and this is the first time he’s gone through the grind of a full NFL season. I think the bye is coming at a very good time, especially for Mahomes.

5. Defense was exactly what our defense is. Good play on the defensive line; KC actually leads the NFL in sacks, hard as that may be to believe. Chris Jones and Alan Bailey both had very good games. Gurley was held relatively in check, scoring zero TDs. What lost the game was our piss poor secondary play. Too many DPI and defensive holding penalties. KC is LAST in the NFL for giving up passing yardage. Dirty Dan was terrible. He got beat like a redheaded Mormon on the game winning TD. Scandrick played his worst game of the year. Not only did he get penalized and beaten all over the field, he had a golden opportunity to seal a victory with a Goff pass that hit him square in both hands. That’s a play Marcus Peters makes. For Scandrick, it was just the cherry on top of a giant shit sundae. The real difference in the game was Mahomes had three picks and Goff had none. The secondary has to do better than this or we’re going to lose in the playoffs again to Pittsburgh or New England, both teams who can slice up a defensive secondary.

4. The other element of the game that hasn’t been discussed much is special teams. This is one of the few games where our special teams stunk. LA was much better. Their punter was much better than ours; Hill fielded two punts inside the five yard line trying to make big return plays. The last one where we got the ball right after the final two minute warning especially hurt. If we start on the 25 instead of the 10, Mahomes has more field to use, and a few more seconds to play with. We had all three time outs, and only needed a field goal to tie. And Buttkicker missing his XPT hurt too, because instead of the Chiefs getting the satisfaction of grabbing a lead after being down 13-0, they go into the half tied. Chiefs got the ball first in the second half and couldn’t do anything with it. I think that missed point was a momentum shifter. Can’t make mistakes like that against a good team on the road.

3. It was a shame that the game sealing pick was made by Peters. He had not had a good game up to that point, and the pick was on a tipped ball when Mahomes got hit on the release. But that’s the difference between Peters and Scandrick. Peters plays like shit, but gets a timely pick and he’s a hero. Scandrick plays like shit, drops what could have been the game winning pick, and his team loses. The truth is you only have to come up big when it absolutely matters. That’s the difference between a good player and a mediocre player, the ability to make a play when it’s needed, no matter how it happens. Ebukam had a career night for LA with two defensive TDs. He’s also the guy who hit Mahomes to force the Peters pick. You have to respect the effort he put in to help his team win.

2. It sucks to lose. That’s for sure. But if we take this morning after to step back and look at things objectively, this isn’t the end of the world. Look at it this way: The Chiefs have played four top tier teams on the road: LA Rams and Chargers, Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Pats. They’ve gone 2-2. KC is still undefeated at home. And going 2-2 against those four opponents is respectable. We had no serious injuries. The team will get a week to rest and heal. Hopefully Watkins and Hitchens will improve, and we may even get the invisible man Eric Berry back at some point. Since the Donks did us a solid by beating the Chargers, we’re still doing OK in the AFC West.

1. Se we get a week to rest up before taking on Chuckie and the Faiders in their toilet bowl of a field on December 2nd. The Chuckster is 2-8 thus far, but remember we lost to these bastards out there last year, and we owe them some payback. I don’t think this team will relapse, and Andy is very good game planning for an opponent when he has two weeks to prepare. So we’ll be disappointed that we lost this one, but if all goes well, we may see these guys again on a neutral field for all the cookies. Speaking of cookies, since we won’t have another Ten Things until December, Mrs. B and I would like to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving. Time moves so quickly. I lost my mom this year, and my advice is to make sure you hug your family members and tell them how much you love them. Make sure to say at least one thing you’re thankful for before having the big feast. Here’s to a safe and Happy Holiday for all the CP. God Bless.